The relevant law got the green light last Friday (March 22) from Minister of Justice Pol Gen Pracha Promnok, but is still awaiting formal approval.
“I think we will have the system in place very soon,” said Kobkiat Kasiwiwat, deputy director general of the Corrections Department, was quoted as saying by The Bangkok Post.
The programme would target prisoners near the end of serving their sentences, or those suffering from chronic or contagious diseases. They would be fitted with bracelets containing microchips to allow authorities to monitor their movements 24 hours a day, he said.
Inmates selected for the programme would be prohibited from leaving the country, and confined to their homes at night.
Phuket Provincial Prison deputy director Sarit Sakjarak told The Phuket News that he knew about the new law, but so far had not received any information from Bangkok.
“I have no idea yet how it will work,” he said
“Phuket Provincial Prison will have no power to decide who will fall under the scheme – that will depend on the Provincial Court. But I think the idea is good because Phuket Prison is very overcrowded.”
The project has been created to solve the problem of overcrowding in prisons. Thailand’s 143 prisons have official capacity for 190,000 prisoners but now hold about 260,000 prisoners.
With prisoner numbers now at bursting point in the existing overcrowded and ancient prison in Phuket Town, the director of Phuket Provincial Prison is hoping that the funds to build a new B1 billion prison in Thalang will be included in the 2014 government budget.
The Phuket prison can hold only 760 people comfortable, but at the moment there are around 2,000 prisoners inside it.
– Additional reporting Bangkok Post.